MARCLIFFE HOTEL AND SPA WINE LIST 2021 Page 1 Introduction Page 2 Matching wine with food Page 3-4 Grape varieties Page 5-7 House Wine Page 8 Discerning wine selection Page 9-15 Champagne Page 16 Sparkling wine Page 17 Alcohol free wine and rose wine Page 18 Donald Trump wines Page 19 David Frost wines Page 20-21 Alpha Omega wines Page 22 Wine produced by Golfers for Golfers Page 23-24 Cakebread Cellar Page 25 Levin Wines Page 26-32 Bordeaux Page 32-38 Burgundy Page 38-40 Rhône Page 40-41 Provence Page 41-44 Alsace, Loire, Germany, Austria Page 44-46 Italy Page 46-47 Spain Page 47-51 Lebanon/Canada/USA Page 51-54 Australia Page 55-56 New Zealand Page 56-57 Chile Page 57-58 Argentina Page 58-59 South Africa Page 60-61 Dessert wine Page 61 Port and fortified wine A red dot denotes that the wine is currently unavailable. Vintages are subject to availability. MARCLIFFE WINE LIST INTRODUCTION All our wines have been tasted and assessed as showing certain styles and character that compliment our cuisine and will undoubtedly appear to the discerning tastes of our clientele. We have represented many classic regions of the old world and have maintained a loyalty to the traditional regions of France. We are also delighted to offer as part of our selection new wines from Australia, South Africa and many other wine growing countries of the New World. Our list features some of the world’s most famous produces to the less well known ones and we believe offer exceptional quality. We carry some of the world’s most iconic wines, to enable us to give our guests the opportunity to try them, we have applied a reduced mark-up fee to these wines. Wine by the glass – If you want to vary your selection of wine during your meal, we are delighted to offer our wide range of wines by the glass. Our aim in compiling this list was to ensure that whatever your personal taste and favourite style of wine that every bottle we feature will be first class. To enjoy some of the wines to their full potential it would be advisable to allow us time to decant and let the wine breath. Vintage alternatives – whenever possible, we have secured sufficient stock of particular vintages to see us through the life of the list. If however we are unable to offer the vintage specified we will offer you the nearest suitable vintage. Finally may I mention, that I am a great believer in drinking what you like. Wine is an integral part of the dining experience. The more you enjoy your visit to the Marcliffe, the better the wine will taste. “A meal without wine is called Breakfast” Have a lovely meal Stewart Spence – Owner 1 MATCHING WINE WITH YOUR FOOD Good news when matching food and wine, you don’t have to learn complicated systems for selecting the right wine to enhance the food on the table. A few simple guidelines will help you make successful wine and food pairings. Of course, it’s fun to experiment and fine tune and with experience you may be able to create spectacular matches that dramatically improve both the dish and the wine. Most of us drink only a small portion of a glass of wine with the food, while drinking most before and after consuming the dish it’s paired with. Most of the time you will spend more time talking with your friends and guests than you will analyse the pairings. KEEPING IT SIMPLE 1. DRINK AND EAT WHAT YOU LIKE Choose a wine that you would want to drink by itself, rather than hoping a food match will improve a wine made in a style that you don’t like. That way even if the pairing isn’t perfect you will still enjoy what you’re drinking, at worst you might need a sip of water or bite of bread between the dish and the glass. The same holds true for the food, after all if the dish is not your choice and you dislike it, there is no wine pairing with it on earth that will work for you. 2. LOOK FOR BALANCE Consider the weight, body or richness of both the food and the wine. The wine and the dish should be equal partners, with neither overwhelming the other. If you balance the two by weight, you raise the odds dramatically that the pairing will succeed. This is the secret behind many classic wine and food matches. There’s a fair amount of instinct to this. Hearty food needs a hearty wine. Cabernet Sauvignon complements grilled lamb chops because they’re equally vigorous, but the dish would run rough shot over a crisp white wine. In contrast, a light Soave washes down a subtly flavoured poached fish because they are equal in delicacy. How do you determine weight? For the food, fat (including what comes from the cooking method and the sauce) is the main contributor. For a wine, you can get clues from the colour, grape variety and alcohol level, along with the winemaking techniques and the region’s climate. Wines with less than 12% ABV tend to be lighter bodied; those with more than 14% are heavier. 3. MATCH THE WINE TO THE MOST PROMINENT ELEMENT IN THE DISH This is critical to fine tuning wine pairings. Identify the dominant character, more often it is the sauce, seasoning or cooking method, rather than the main ingredient. Consider two different chicken dishes: chicken marsala with a sauce of a dark wine and mushrooms versus a chicken breast poached in a creamy lemon sauce. The caramelised, earthy flavours of the former would benefit with a soft supple wine while the simplicity and citrus flavours of the latter dish lean toward a fresh clean white wine. Fruity wines go with fruity food Vinaigrette and high acid wines – Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir cancel each other out High acid wine and salty foods (shellfish) complement each other High acid wine and oily (roast duck) complement each other Strong flavours (steak) will dominate delicate flavours (white wine) Earthy (mushroom or truffles) goes with earthy (Pinot Noir) Herbal (vegetables, herbs, capers) goes with herbal (Chardonnay, Albarino, Gewurztraminer) 2 POPULAR GRAPE VARIETIES Listed below are some of the main grape varieties in wine production along with some notes on their characteristics and origin. RED CABERNET SAUVIGNON is famous for its Herculean strength and great depth of flavour. Intense and full-bodied with currant flavours and strong tannins which allow for great ageing. Classic and prestigious Cabernet can be found in Medoc of Bordeaux but also equally in the highly prized vines of the Napa Valley. CARMENERE is the primary grape of Chile producing bold red wines with it sometimes being mistaken for Merlot. MALBEC in Argentina, several quality producers are making wine from 100% Malbec with great success in the high altitudes and terroir of Argentina. In fact the fruit reaches its best expression today in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Several Bordeaux châteaux are working with Mendoza vineyards including Château Mouton Rothschild. MERLOT a grape which has recently seen massive popularity with a medium to full body and herbaceous personality. Typically, softer than Cabernet Sauvignon with flavours of blackberry, plum, fruitcake and mocha. Find the new world treats in Chile and for classic merlot head straight to French Pomerol. PINOTAGE was developed in the early 1900s and used primarily in South Africa. Pinotage is a mix between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut. This grape makes a wine that is hearty with a fruity and spicy taste. PINOT NOIR is a red wine of light to medium body. Delicate, smooth, rich complexity with earthy aromas. They are less tannic than a cabernet sauvignon or a merlot. Pinot noirs exude the flavour of baked cherries, plums, mushrooms, cedar, cigars and chocolate. The most popular expression of this grape is French Red Burgundy. The grape has been the subject of great acclaim in New Zealand. SYRAH (Shiraz) can produce great and muscular reds with strong tannins and complex combinations of berry, plum and smoke. This grape has led to many a success story in Napa, Australia and Africa but also has a place in old world classics such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape. TEMPRANILLO is a classic quality grape variety responsible for making some Spain’s best wines. It’s a thick-skinned black grape used to make full-bodied red wines. Tempranillo responds sublimely to delicate integration with American and French oak, producing deep colours, smooth, elegant and capable of long ageing. ZINFANDEL is primarily thought of as a Californian variety, however it has been proven this grape originated in Croatia. Zinfandel can have a light to full body and berry or spice like flavours. White pepper aromas are said to be typical of this grape variety. The grape is also often sold as fashionable white zinfandel in a rosé. 3 WHITE CHARDONNAY is perhaps the most versatile of all grapes. It can range from the highly complex wines of Bâtard-Montrachet to the up front buttery examples from California. CHENIN BLANC is responsible for some of the finest wines in the world from numerous appellations in the Loire Valley including Bonnezeaux, Quartz de Chaume, Vouvray and Côteaux du Layon. It also produces some dry wines in the Loire and is also widely planted in South Africa where it is known as Steen. GEWURZTRAMINER is a grape which makes full-bodied wines with spice, ginger, grapefruit and honeysuckle flavours.